I hope everyone had happy and peaceful holidays and that you are all now recovering from them! I spent (most of) today recovering from my own holiday frenzy. It seems that no matter how much I try to prepare ahead of time, those last few days are a scramble. And that week of work before a holiday is a killer, especially after other people take off for the holiday. I had my own time off to look forward to, but it seems to get harder to focus every day. And working next to the area's most popular mall also makes the commute SO pleasant :-P I shouldn't complain, though because it was very convenient for my own holiday shopping.

But it was worth every second and cent, because we had a great day yesterday and I got to spoil the people I love most. And we REALLY spoil each other, as you can see of the picture of the tree pre-gift opening carnage. This actually isn't even all of the presents, believe it or not. This picture was taken before my mom arrived and she brought even more presents with her! We opened presents in the bedroom (where the tree was) and although it wasn't what I probably would have chosen (had the kitten left us a choice) it was pretty fun, like a Christmas pajama party! The first presents opened were the hand knits:

happy feet in finished socks!

So far, Mom loves her Sock Candy socks (we'll see how they fit in six months after lots of washing/wearing) and Mark is very happy with his manly socks. The cuffs on his pair should be tighter, but they're just comfy socks for keeping his feet warm while he's around the house, so it's not too big of a deal. I might knit the next pair from the cuff down instead of toe-up to see if I can get a more satisfactory fit. But yea for finished socks! All my other gifts were successes, too, except for a pair of gloves for Mark that were too big (store bought, not handmade, thank goodness!) And I got pretty spoiled, myself. I feel like I fell out of the fiber tree and hit every stick on the way down!

Lucky, lucky me, huh?There's tussah sik, bombyx silk, merino/silk, cashmere/silk, baby camel/silk, cormo/silk, bfl and oh so much more goodness. Four pounds, four ounces of the prettiest fibers anywhere. I am not worthy. But I am overwhelmed. And that's not all! I got fiber accoutrements, too. A .6 oz Golding ring spindle, Victorian Lace Today and Arctic Lace, foam floor tiles for blocking (with their own carry bag) and... I can barely write it out... I'm even less worthy of this... Color by Number Book 2 by Deb Menz and Sara Lamb. A note book with 740 dye formulae with samples *fanning myself* Please excuse me while I go lie down for a moment.

Okay, I'm feeling less light headed now. Even thinking of that notebook makes me dizzy with the possibilities. I am going to have so much fun dyeing. I already have about 1.5 gazillion colorways planned. I feel yet ANOTHER addiction coming on. Damn, I love fiber!

The combination of the heady freedom from holiday knits and the inspiring new goodies got me started on a new project. I had a very hard time deciding which of the new goodies to use! But, I had one big regret from Rhinebeck that helped me to choose. When Mom and I were at Rhinebeck, she used the opportunity to Christmas shop. As I saw things I liked, I'd point them out to her and she'd "Santa" them away. Well, I stupidly let her Santa everything that I liked from Foxfire Fiber, which ended up being one of the most raved about vendors there. I've been dying to try some of their fibers ever since then, so I pretty quickly narrowed it down to them. This is one of their BFL Rainbow Ribbon batts in the colorway "Autumn." The colors are gorgeous, the fiber is soft, and I love the copper sparkle in it. I pulled a thin layer off of the batt and split it width-wise so that I have two mini-batts, each with the full colorway. I'm pulling strips off of the batts, starting with orange and working toward the dusky pink/purple. I'll ply the singles from the two batts together to get a yarn that (hopefully) mirrors the batt, one continuous, slow color change from orange to pink/purple. Right now I'm envisioning a mobius strip. I'll knit length-wise, then twist and join. I want it to look like a fiery sunset over the ocean. I am SO in new-project love.

I can't wait to see what you make! Barb (Foxfire) is in my spinning group (the one I never make it to, ahem) and she's very nice and has the most gorgeous farm. That wool comes from some very happy sheep and a wonderful fiber artist. Keep us posted!